


Sleeping With the Fishes

by Christine_Eponine_Watson, reflectiveless



Series: Sherlock the Merman [1]
Category: Fred the Mermaid, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: "Sleeping With the Fishes" by Mary Janice Davidson, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Love Triangles, M/M, Male Irene, No Smut (yet ;) ), Openly Gay John, Romance, Sexual Tension, bookverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-23
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2018-01-26 06:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1678853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Christine_Eponine_Watson/pseuds/Christine_Eponine_Watson, https://archiveofourown.org/users/reflectiveless/pseuds/reflectiveless
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a merman does help Sherlock when he works at SEA LIFE London Aquarium. But, needless to say, it's there that he gets involved in something fishy. Weird levels of toxins have been found in local water. A gorgeous marine biologist wants his help investigating. So does his mer-person ruler, the High Prince of the Black Sea. You'd think it would be easy for a merman to get to the bottom of things. Think again...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the novel, _Sleeping With the Fishes_ by Mary Janice Davidson. You don't need to read the book to enjoy the story, but it's really, really good.

Sherlock Holmes crept into  SEA LIFE London Aquarium, hoping that his boss, Dr. Molly Hooper, wouldn't notice that he was late. Again. He was always late when he went swimming in the morning, which was almost every morning. The water — though not the ocean or Thames river, far too filthy for his tastes — was the only place he felt accepted. Fish weren't as easily upset by his deductions as humans and, being half merman, he preferred them to the ignorant bipeds. Fish were only marginally less intelligent than humans, anyway. He tried to slip in through the back entrance; hopefully Molly was busy and wouldn't notice....

"Dr. Holmes!" Molly called, trotting up to him, a shorter blond man in tow. "I've been looking for you everywhere." She eyed his outfit, sighing at the lack of lab coat. Molly always wanted the aquarium's employees to wear lab coats, though they all refused after a while. "I have someone to introduce you to. Dr. Holmes, this is Dr. John Watson, our new water fellow. Dr. Watson, this is Dr. Sherlock Holmes. He takes care of the fish and other sea creatures for us."

"I feed little dead fish to the big fish," Sherlock explain with a grin, knowing this would only serve to annoy Molly who preferred more professional titles. He couldn't help but notice Dr. Waton's well groomed hair. It made him stand out in a way that most people never did. He seemed perfectly average, and yet there was a strange glimmer of something else there that he couldn't quite put his finger on. "Just come to inspect our tanks, I take it?" Sherlock didn't actually care, he just wanted to 'play nice' so Molly would get off his back for always being 'antisocial' when meeting new people... or people he met before... or anyone, really. Why did people pretend they cared when they met strangers, again? He put his hand out for Dr. Watson to shake; people tended to like that.

John shook the outstretched hand, wincing slightly at the cold temperature that he didn't know was characteristic for mermen. "Something like that," he said with a grin. 

Sherlock didn't take the unintentional gesture personally; nearly everyone did that after touching him. People naturally didn't expect such a cold, clammy hand. "Well, I'm sure you'll find our tanks are in perfect condition and our animals are relatively happy." _Save for the hunger strike they seem to be on_ , he thought with mild annoyance.

Molly closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "Sherlock, Dr. Watson is going to be here for a while, investigating unusually high toxin levels in the Thames near here. He's new to the area, so I hope you'll make an effort to make him feel welcome and show him how beautiful London can be this time of the year," she said, her voice very similar to that of a mother whose child is being particularly obstinate.

Sherlock fought the urge to roll his eyes at her. Did she want him to give John a tour of London now? Definitely not in the job description. Though he wasn't _too_ unpleasant to look at, this would mean cutting down on impromptu swims. "Of course," he said, only a hint of sarcasm in his voice, though Molly probably caught it anyway.

"Chatty, aren't you?" John twinkled. There was no other word for it: he was grinning and his dark blue eyes were shining and he was  twinkling  at him.

Sherlock huffed a bit. "I'm a marine biologist —  fish guy —  not a tour guide, so forgive me if I seem a bit distant," he snapped. Didn't Molly know he should be feeding those ungrateful fish right now?

John chuckled, choosing not to reply. "I love your hair," he commented randomly. "That's the most amazing blue I've ever seen."

Molly looked at John as if he'd grown an extra head. "Dr. Holmes has black hair," she said.

John shook his head. "No, it's the color of tiny sapphires, seemingly black, but really the deepest blue." He lowered his voice so only Sherlock would hear. "I write romance novels under the name Johanna D'Jacqueline."

That put a rather amused grin on Sherlock's face, but... how had he known what color his hair truly was? No one ever knew, only his mother and he knew. She had once told him that his true love would be the one to see him for who he truly was, but he had always brushed it off as more of her hippie nonsense or at the very most a metaphor for his atrocious attitude towards others. He felt a slight blush color his cheeks at the way John described his hair and turned around, appearing busy with work, but really to hide the blush. "I'll give you your tour, but I really do have fish to feed."

John smiled, not very subtly checking out Sherlock's arse. Molly cleared her throat in embarrassment, getting his attention away from Sherlock. "Actually, I was just taking John on a tour," she told Sherlock. "Thank you for your time, Dr. Holmes. We'll leave you to your work... and don't forget to say hello to the new intern."

Sherlock sighed. "You can just call me Sherlock, you know..." he mumbled and continued down the hall to the main tank he was in charge of. He could already hear the fish and sharks complaining about the horrid 'thudding sound.' He couldn't blame them, the 'music' they played in this place was truly terrible. What had Molly meant by new intern anyway? He suddenly cringed as he heard someone slide up next to him. As early as it was, he could already tell that today would definitely be disagreeing with him. _Soon, fish, I promise_.

"Hiiiiiiiiiii!" the young woman/new intern chirped. "You're, like, Dr. Holmes, right? Ohmigod! I'm super glad I have a chance to meet you! Because I'm, like, going to learn so much from you!" She giggled obnoxiously. 

Sherlock sighed, his eyes looking her up and down. "I take it you 'really, really' liked dolphins as a child?" he concluded. He knew her type well; they never seemed to grow mentally after the age of five and probably fully believed in wishing on stars and unicorns. Now he would be stuck working with her for six months before she was replaced by someone equally stupid.

The young woman's jaw dropped. "Ohmigod, how'd you guess?" she asked, sounding as amazed as she would if he were a talking dolphin.

It didn't take Sherlock's powers of deduction figure that out at all. "There are only three types of marine biologists, and you're obviously the kind that 'really, really' likes dolphins..." He didn't elaborate on the other two kinds. "You do know there are no dolphins in the Thames right?"

"Wow! Dr. Hooper said you were, like, rilly rilly smart, like a genius or something!" the young woman exclaimed. She flipped her long, dark hair over her shoulder. "I'm, like, Janine Hawkins. It's, like, rilly rilly great to meet you!" Her American accent was really starting to grate on Sherlock's nerves.

"Well, I have several hungry fish I need to be attending, Janine, so if you don't mind, I'm going to go do my job," Sherlock said with poorly concealed annoyance. "Go do something useful."

Janine stepped a bit closer to him. "Dr. Hooper told me to help you and Dr. Watson and Sally and, like, everyone else."

"Well then, why don't you go help one of them instead?" Sherlock suggested, his voice filled with sarcastic enthusiasm. "I'm sure Sally would just _love_ to talk about all the different kinds of dolphins with you!" He hated Sally to his very core and Sally of course hated 'dolphin girls,' but was often too polite to tell them to piss off, unlike she was with him.

"I'd, like, rilly rather help  _ you _ ," Janine said in an overly flirtatious manner, entirely oblivious to Sherlock's not-so-subtle dismissal.

"Yes, well..." Sherlock didn't consider himself attracted to anyone, really, but if it would get this irritating girl away from him... he could always act. "Actually, could you check my hair, honey? I can never quite get the hairspray just right in the back." He held up his hand, pretending to inspect his nails as flamboyantly as he could.

Janine's eyes widened, realization dawning on her and disappointment flooding her features. "I think I'll go see if I can learn the register in the gift shop," she mumbled. Her perky smile returned, though without the flirtatious aspect. "See ya, Dr. Holmes." She pranced off in the direction of the gift shop. All of a sudden, a round of applause sounded behind Sherlock.

Sherlock went still at that. Great, now someone _else_ at work probably thought he was gay too. He turned to see who was likely mocking him.

John beamed at him. "That was brilliant!" he chuckled. "I can't believe she didn't notice how abruptly you became the stereotypical gay man. It was rather obviously not you." He was standing a bit close to Sherlock, but not quite in his personal space. "Are you actually gay or was it entirely an act?"

"I'm... married to my fish," Sherlock said slowly. People didn't tend to like it when he said he wasn't interested in anyone.

"I see," John said slowly, looking quite a bit disappointed. "It's just my luck that none of the attractive men are ever gay." He sighed. "I'm sorry for interrupting you... I know you wanted to get back to work... I'll see you around, yeah?"

"It's an open relationship... " Sherlock blurted out of no where, not quite sure where that had come from. "I... uh... fish need feeding... I have to go get in the scuba gear..." He flushed a bit.

John's mood instantly brightened. "I'd hate to keep you from them, then..." he said, his voice and grin saying the opposite.

Sherlock failed to hide a small smile. Was John flirting with him? No one ever flirted with him... well, annoying people had, but he wasn't counting them. He hadn't realized that he had just counted John amongst the few and rare 'non-annoying' people he had ever encountered. "I'll just... um, see you around then." he hurried off to get ready to feed the fish and sharks some chum as they annoyingly called out to him all at once about  the horrible thudding.

_Yes, I know, I hate it too but there's really nothing I can do about it so just eat already_ , Sherlock thought to them.   


_Fish man bring fish_ , they all chanted in his head.  


That was probably as good a title as anything. All those years in school just to be 'Fish man' who 'brings fish.'

A large shark swam over, knocking Sherlock off his balance. As hard as he had tried throughout his life, he had never quite gotten the hang of swimming with legs. He had tried to learn countless times before, his mother was ever so patient in trying to teach him, but it was as if his body knew it could merely grow a tail to swim and so refused to learn in any other manner.

_Stubborn legs_... he thought as he lost all concept of up and down and ended up upside down in the tank looking utterly ridiculous. His bag of chum fell helplessly to the ground where many of the fish would refuse to even touch it.

_This is all your fault_ , he thought to the fish bitterly.

A sea turtle swam by, not giving him the time of day. _Thudding, bad. No eat_.

John stood outside of the tank, watching Sherlock flail helplessly and chuckling. It was hilarious how someone so graceful on land —  and a marine biologist, no less — could be so uncoordinated in the water. He waved at Sherlock, smiling at him fondly.

From his hazy and distorted vision due to his angle, Sherlock thought he saw someone waving at him. He groaned; it was John of course. Could he manage to embarrass himself any more today? He did his best to reorient himself in the tank and swim — attempt to swim — back to the top where he could change back into his normal clothes. He would just have to try feeding them again later.

John climbed the steps up to the observation deck and helped haul Sherlock out of the water. "I can't believe you don't know how to swim," he teased playfully as Sherlock went into the changing room and changed into his normal clothes, his voice making it infinitely more flirtatious than mean. "How did you manage that one?" he asked when Sherlock emerged, drying his hair with a towel.

Sherlock grimaced a bit, not always very good at picking up flirtatious tones, "I know... I've tried... I just cant," he huffed, annoyed at his damn human body for making him look like a complete fool.

"It was actually rather endearing," John added, realizing that Sherlock hadn't noticed that he was not trying to insult him.

"It's... really embarrassing, actually," Sherlock said, feeling heat creep onto his cheeks again. Damn it, he never blushed. Why did he keep blushing today? "But thank you anyway..."

John reached up and gently ran the backs of his fingers over Sherlock's cheek. "You have a very attractive blush..."

That only served to make Sherlock go redder, wishing he could sink back into the cool water to lessen the heat in his cheeks. "T-tour... I promised to take you around London. We should go." What was wrong with him? He couldn't even speak properly now.

John withdrew his hand and nodded. "Alright." Why was Sherlock running away from him? It was obvious the blue haired man was attracted to him.

Sherlock swallowed thickly, he missed those smooth hands on his cheeks. John was so warm, unlike him. "Hungry?" It was nearing lunchtime.

John grinned, "Starving."

Sherlock swallowed. "There's a sandwich shop down the street from here, I'm sure you can find it." He rushed off without a word. He had originally planned to go with John, but it would be pointless. John seemed to want to date him and that simply couldn't happen. He could never let someone into his life like that, they would suspect something was going on and eventually figure out what he really was. No, they just simply couldn't be.

John watched Sherlock hurry away sadly, but he refused to give up hope. He would keep trying and maybe, with some luck, Sherlock would eventually stop fighting him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock has already run away from John, what will he do when a new, equally attractive man appears at his doorstep?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JUST TO WARN ANY IRENE FANS, Irene is not only male, but entirely OOC. We decided to use the character from the book and just used Irene's last name because why not? So, yeah... Hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Oh, and Mrs. Hudson is much, _much_ younger than in the show. And Angelo, in case you don't remember, is the one who owns the restaurant John and Sherlock went to in "A Study in Pink." 
> 
> And lastly, click [here](http://www.miss-cats-worst-witch-academy.de/History__-_Who_is_who_/The_Telly_Series/Una_Stubbs/una_stubbs6.jpg) to see what Mrs. Hudson looked like when she was young.

Sherlock couldn't get away from the aquarium fast enough; he hadn't even realized that he had started hyperventilating. It wasn't fair. He knew he had to distance himself, but why couldn't people just accept him? Was he to die alone and never understand why he was the only one like this? Just then, Sherlock's mobile rang. A glance at the phone told him it was his mother, Martha Louise Hudson. Martha had only known Sherlock's biological father on the night Sherlock was conceived. When Sherlock was three years old, she married Angelo Hudson and took his last name, though Sherlock kept his mother's maiden name. Though in her early fifties, Martha was still a very beautiful woman who had never grown out of her hippy phase.

"Yes mum?" Sherlock sighed into the mobile. He really hoped this was something important and not her needlessly fretting about him.

"There's... um... we have a visitor," Martha said through the phone, sounding rather nervous.

"Visitor? Mum? Are you alright?" Sherlock asked, worry filling his voice. Was someone threatening her?! "I'll be right there!"

"I don't think I'm in danger, sweetheart," Martha said, still nervous. "He just wants to see you. _Very_ badly."

Sherlock hung up without another word.  He hurried to the house he had grown up in, going around to the back and going through the sliding glass door. Literally. The glass shattered, shards flying into the house. "Get away from my mother!" he yelled at the stranger sitting beside her and Angelo, not really sure if he could take him on or not as the man was much bigger and more muscular than he, but he would do his best.

Martha looked up, surprised, and Angelo eyed the glass door that Sherlock had burst through while the stranger — a man only slightly taller, but much more hulking, than Sherlock with dark red hair and eyes, both the color of garnet — stared at Sherlock. "I mean your lady mother no harm," he said, standing from his seat at the table and bowing at Sherlock respectfully. "I am High Prince Arthur of the Adler line. You must be William. I have heard much about you."

Sherlock frowned. "It's Sherlock." He had always prefered his middle name over his first and exclusively went by it now. "And I highly doubt any 'prince' has heard about me."

Artur grinned, finding Sherlock's attitude a refreshing change from all the respect and groveling he normally got. Martha cleared her throat. "Sherlock, he says... he says you're one of his subjects and owe him fealty and loyalty and such." She waved her hand dismissively at the end of the sentence. 

"I most certainly am not!" Sherlock exclaimed, glaring at the red-haired man. "And I don't owe him a thing!" Sherlock had known right away that this man must be a merman. He certainly had the most unusual hair and striking eyes of anyone he had ever seen. "I'm a citizen of England and the only royalty I'm subject to is the queen."

Artur chuckled, quite the opposite of insulted by Sherlock's exclamation. "I would like to have a word with you in your sire's pond."

Sherlock glanced at his parents for clarification. "My sire's pond?" Did he mean the salt water pool?

"He means the pool," Angelo explained.

"Ah," Sherlock breathed. Artur had a very archaic vocabulary if he called Sherlock's father his sire. "I suppose..." He reluctantly led the stranger towards it where his parents would no longer be able to hear them.

Artur started to strip, shirt and shorts flying; he wasn't wearing pants. He dove into the pool, a vibrant tail instantly forming. His tail was much longer than Sherlock's and the fins at the base were much wider, marking him as a superior swimmer. He popped up and grinned at Sherlock, revealing his many... _pointy?_... teeth.  Sherlock suddenly felt very self-conscious about his tail. Was it smaller because he was a half-breed? Was that why he lacked the pointy teeth? He deduced that they were so sharp to make it easy to bite through fish and bone, a thought that made Sherlock feel slightly queasy. He was a bit afraid of changing now; he didn't want to invite any more comparisons between himself and the other merman.

Artur flicked his tail at Sherlock, splashing him. "Come into the water and I will tell you why I am here."

Sherlock nervously let out a breath and took his clothes off, jumping into the water and quickly forming his, by comparison, small tail.

_'You look different...'_ Arthur said telepathically.

Ah, telepathy. Of course. How _else_ would they communicate under water? _'Uh, yea... half human after all...'_

Artur nodded, swimming around Sherlock in slow circles, observing him. _'Do you not wonder why I sought you out?'_

_'I don't suppose I'm the only half merperson in the world, so tell me.'_  

_ 'Actually, you are the only one I am aware of,'  _ Artur thought to him. 

Sherlock nodded, unable to  take his eyes off of Artur's beautiful tail. Had he not been distracted, he would have pressed further.  _'You didn't answer my question.'_

Artur grinned, deciding to delay a bit. _'Admiring me, I see.'_ He reached for Sherlock's waist to pull him close. Full-blooded Underwater Folk had no sense of personal space.

Sherlock tried to wiggle away from him, but Artur was much stronger. Sherlock felt oddly small pressed up against him. _'N-no! I was just- let me go!'_

Artur's hand gently caressed the spot where Sherlock's tail met his torso. _'My subjects do not treat me like this,'_ he mused. _'They invite my caresses.'_

_'Well_ _I'm_ not _one of your subjects!'_ Sherlock slapped the prince's hand off of him and pushed him away.

_ 'You are unlike any other of my people, Little William. I cannot resist you.' _

_'It's_ Sherlock, _and you can try harder.'_ Sherlock started to pull himself out of the water to get away.

_'Please wait,'_ Artur begged. _'Let me explain why I have come here.'_ He kept his distance from Sherlock, not wanting to upset him further.

_'Fine, then tell me and hurry up.'_ He was absolutely _not_  still staring at Artur's tail. _Maybe_ his eyes drifted towards it occasionally, but that was it... Really.

Artur mentally sighed. _'The bipeds are poisoning the river,'_ he announced. _'My father, the High King, has charged me with finding you and enlisting your help to stop it.'_

Sherlock thought that was rather anticlimactic. _'Oh... well, that's not exactly news... '_  It struck him as odd that this was the second man today who brought this up to him. Oh. He could get the two of them together to work on it and they'd both leave him alone. It was brilliant. _'There's a Dr. Watson who wants to fix that same problem. I could introduce the two of you...'_

Artur nodded thoughtfully. _'That could be a good idea, but I do require your assistance as well.'_ And not just because Artur thought Sherlock was stunning and would make a wonderful prince... definitely not... No, he needed help dealing with the biped. Sherlock had dealt with them his whole life when Artur had not.

There went that plan. _'I don't really see how I can help, but I suppose I can come along.'_  Sherlock swore he was going to gouge his eyes out if he looked at that gorgeous tail one more time. It was stunning in its plethora of blues and greens that resembled the feathers of a peacock and were just as mesmerizing.

Artur flicked his tail, showing off slightly. _'I do not understand why you are so averse to physical intimacy.'_

Sherlock scrunched his brow. _'I'm not_ averse _to it necessarily...'_ Why didn't people just understand he wasn't interested in anyone?

Artur raised an eyebrow, swimming slightly closer. _'Then why do you not let me hold you? You behave as though attracted to me, but you push me away.'_

_'You don't even really like me. You just want my... tail...?'_ He wasn't sure what the proper expression would be for a merman. _'W _hat do you care?_ I'm sure there are plenty of other mermen who are far better looking and attracted to you.'_

Artur's eyes widened and he took Sherlock's face in his hands. _'You do not know how wrong you are, my William. You are like no one I have ever met. You are entirely unique.'_ He leaned forward and very gently pressed his lips to Sherlock's. It was an extremely brief kiss, but he hoped it was enough.

Sherlock cursed himself for letting his eyes close as he briefly sank into the kiss before straightening his back and pulling away.

Artur smiled at him. _'Come, we should go meet this Dr. Watson,'_ he announced, holding out a hand for Sherlock.  Sherlock begrudgingly took his hand as they left the pool.

_'Maybe we should grab some food first?'_ Sherlock was starting to feel famished from his ridiculous day.

Artur nodded. _'As you wish, little William.'_

That was going to get old very quickly he thought. Sherlock quickly dressed and pulled "his majesty" to the nearest diner, texting Lestrade on the way. He definitely needed some support from his best friend right now.

 


End file.
